NEW QUESTIONS BEING ASKED ABOUT DIGITAL BILLBOARDS

Critics say city could be exposed to lawsuits, and doors would open for more such ads

Critics of Vista’s proposal to build two digital billboards on city-owned land raised concerns this week that the project could expose the city to lawsuits and open the door to more billboards in the area.

The city is developing an agreement with CBS Outdoor, an advertising company, to build the billboards along state Route 78. City officials discussed the draft terms of the agreement during Tuesday’s Vista City Council meeting.

Under the deal, the city would get a 52 percent share of the billboards’ revenues, making the city’s cut about $300,000 to $400,000 a year. The agreement would last 10 years with one 10-year extension and one five-year extension, or a total of 25 years.

Supporters say the billboards would generate much-needed revenue for the city and attract shoppers to local businesses. Critics say the billboards are ugly and a potential traffic hazard distracting drivers.

Pamela Wilson, a lawyer with a group called Scenic San Diego that opposes the billboards, said the signs could set the city up for a lawsuit. She said once the billboards are built, another billboard company could sue for the right to build more signs on private land.

“The city cannot constitutionally give itself a monopoly allowing signs like these and say that private property owners cannot do the exact same thing,” Wilson said.

Wilson cited a case in New York, in which the city of Utica gave CBS Outdoor an exemption in 2008 to build a billboard on city-owned land. A short time later, Lamar Advertising, another advertising company, asked for a permit to build billboards on private land.

When the city denied permits to Lamar, the company sued Utica. A federal court in 2011 sided with Lamar.

Assistant City Attorney Jonathan Stone told the council that the New York case did not apply in California because the ruling was issued by a different circuit court. California is under the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Stone said the facts of the New York case are also different from the proposal in Vista.

“In that case, the planning commission essentially overrode an ordinance to allow a privately owned digital message board to be erected,” Stone said.

No vote was taken Tuesday night on the draft terms of the agreement between Vista and CBS Outdoor. Council members only gave staff directions to proceed with the negotiations and asked that some of the terms be further clarified, including a condition that would give the city space on the sign to advertise community events.

According to the draft terms, the city would have up to 15 percent of billboards’ time to advertise events such as the Strawberry Festival, Vista Rod Run and Moonlight Stage Productions.

If the city does not use all of its 15 percent allotment, the balance could be used for paid commercial advertisements, officials said.